Walt Whitman and Jane Kenyon mind map

Both poets wrote in free verse most of the time. It is easy to tell Kenyon is a descendant poet because like Whitman, there isn't much structure to her poems and they free verse. They do this because there is almost no limit to their poems and they can essentially write without worrying about the number of lines and rhythm. Caesura is another common poetic device meaning the both use punctuation as a way to pause in a poem.

Whitman and Kenyon have a similar tone in their poems

One of the similarities between the two poets is that they both write and reflect about certain aspects of life.

In the poem "A Noiseless Patient Spider" by Walt Whitman he uses an extended metaphor to refer to humans reaching out to other people and making connections through the webs of a spider.

Similarly to Walt Whitmans "A Noiseless Patient Spider", Jane Kenyon's poem "Portrait of a Figure Near Water" uses a metaphor to express the feeling of anger and being alone.

Portrait of a Figure Near Water metaphor; "Anger, the inner
arsonist, held a match to her brain" (stanza 1). Kenyon writes as if anger holds a match to her brain which lights it on fire. This is a metaphor to help express the feeling of anger and how it feels hot and needs to be calmed down (like a match and a fire).

In "Portrait of a Figure Near Water" Jane Kenyon also writes about the feeling of being alone; "The barn was empty of animals.
Only a swallow tilted" (stanza 2). The fact that the barn had no animals shows that she is the only one in the barn and she is there alone. Both Whitman and Kenyon express the feeling of being alone in their poems.

A Noiseless Patient Spider; “Mark’d how to explore the vacant vast surrounding, It launch’d forth filament…” (stanza 1). Whitman expresses what it is like to reach out to people and struggle to make connections. He uses the metaphor of a spider launching filament (web) and it not finding anything to attach too. This relates to the idea of being alone as well, which is touched on in Kenyons poem, "Portrait of a Figure Near Water".

Whitman and Kenyon communicate the theme of observing certain aspects of life because that's such an important part of peoples everyday lives and they express the same feelings people get (like feeling alone and the feeling of anger) through their poems to try and relate through imagery and metaphors.

Both poets use similar poetic devices

In "A Noiseless Patient Spider" by Whitman even the first line has punctuation to create a pause.
"A noiseless patient spider,
I mark'd where..." (stanza 1).
This comma makes the first line more dramatic and starts the poem before it goes into detail, like the beginning of a story.

In "Portrait of a Figure Near Water" by Kenyon she uses punctuation to create more of a lasting affect on the readers and like Whitman, it makes the poem more dramatic.
"Rebuked, she turned and ran
uphill to the barn" (stanza 1).
The poem has that comma on the first line because it sets the scene for the rest if the poem and lets the first word sink in. Rebuked means sharp disapproval and is a strong word so the comma emphasizes that.

Both poets use pathetic fallacy where they give nature human characteristics. This goes along with imagery because it is also used to help describe a scene in detail to provide readers with a broader image in their head.

In "A Noiseless Patient Spider" and "Portrait of a Figure Near Water" both poems are serious and a little sad. The voice of the poems is hopeless and there is a climax where it seems everything is falling apart but towards the end it calms down.

They both use consonance which is a repetition of the same constant in one line or multiple lines in the verse

Whitman and Kenyon didn't use any specific amount of lines in their poems as well

Whitman and Kenyon also both use symbols in their writing and that helps them get their word across.

Imagery is a common poetic device found in both Whitman and Kenyon's poems. Reading Whitmans poems you can picture the setting and the scene of most of his poems and the same thing goes for Kenyon's poems. I can clearly picture what the setting is like. Both poets are descriptive with their wording to help readers get a better picture in their minds as well.

In "A Noiseless Patient Spider" by Whitman he uses a few symbols. "Till the bridge you will need be form'd, till the ductile anchor hold" (stanza 2). The bridge he refers to can be a symbol for connections and relationships. A bridge connects two pieces of land and that is how Whitman uses it as a symbol for connecting two people.

In "Portrait of a Figure Near Water" by Kenyon one of the symbols she uses is fire. "She observed her life: against her will
it survived the unwavering flame" (stanza 1). She uses fire to symbolize the hard times in life and the aspects that make her angry. She adapted this trait from Whitman because it makes the poems more interesting and more mysterious.

They also both use personification in their poems. They use it to indulge the reader farther into the poem and makes it seem more interesting.